CALEXICO, Calif. - Mexico will
continue to press for an immigration agreement
establishing a right for Mexicans to work
temporarily in the United States, the country's
interior secretary, Santiago Creel, said Monday
after meeting with Homeland Security Secretary
Tom Ridge.

Creel also denounced an Arizona
ballot measure - approved by voters in November
- that limits government services for illegal
immigrants.

"It's incompatible with human
rights and does a disservice to both countries,
the United States as much as Mexico," he told
reporters at a news conference after the meeting
in Calexico, a border city about 100 miles east
of San Diego.

Ridge said an immigration
agreement was a "high priority" for President
Bush in his second term, but he added that a
temporary-worker program would be an uphill
battle in Congress without provisions for
stricter enforcement of immigration laws.

He emphasized that the United
States would reject any amnesty proposal for
Mexicans who are living in the United States
illegally or any plan that gives priority to
temporary workers when they apply for permanent
residency.